Well you are partially right, they will be selecting a QB, just not in the first round most likely because none of them are worth wasting the top pick on. You don't draft a QB just to say you drafted a QB.
And that was with an injured Foster, Cushing, and Manning...while having a matador at RT. This team will be in much better shape next season...not saying playoffs, but we wont be in the top 10 when it comes draft time next year.
I actually like Fitzpatrick... as an outsider. He always seemed to do more with less. I'm just surprised he's on BOB's radar. If getting Fitzy means Schaub is traded, then git r dun. Not sure how I feel about him being the unquestioned starter, though.
This is why I don't mind Fitzpatrick. If he's signed for cheap, it's at a much better value than keeping Schaub.
We're talking about 4 million dollars difference between him staying and getting cut/traded....and that's probably what you would have to pay a vet QB so money isn't the reason at all.
But how much more? Keep him and he counts $14.4M against the cap. Cut him and he counts $10.5M but you still have to pay another vet to come in. If you pay that vet $4M, you're actually spending more money than you would have than if you just kept Schaub. If you pay the vet $3.5M, you're only saving $400K. Fitzpatrick averaged $3.25M over 2 years in Tennessee. I guess he wouldn't be asking for more than that. So if you sign him, you'd save some money, but not a ton. If they do think that Schaub is still better than Fitzpatrick then the question becomes, is $900K (if he signs for $3M) or less in savings worth the dropoff?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Ryan Fitzpatrick is signing with the <a class="hashtag" action="hash" title="#Texans">#Texans</a>, source said.</p>— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/446775310474678272" data-datetime="2014-03-20T22:28:29+00:00">March 20, 2014</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Oh wow, I'd guess that means Schaub is traded/released very soon. A season of Fitz won't be fun to watch, but it's not the worst stopgap in the world.
The thing about cutting and signing a replacement. It costs the same this year, but your cap is clean in future years. Keeping him around is kicking that can down the road to next year.
That, and I don't think Mariota and Hundley would go #1 this year. Most people (there were a few exceptions) had Bridgewater rated higher than Mariota going into the season. And Hundley was rated as a mid to late 1st/early 2nd rounder. The only QB who could come out next year that would've definitely gone #1 this year is Winston. And in all likelihood, we won't be in position to draft him next year. So I'm not big on waiting to spend a 1st rounder on a QB next year who probably won't be rated as highly as whoever we'd take #1 this year.
Exactly...And also, even assuming Teddy/JFF/Bortles are rated at the same level of Mariota/Hundley...I'd still rather take one of the 3 this season so we can get started on the process of giving the QB some experience and play time. There is no sense in waiting until next season to start the process with an equally rated QB. I dont see us getting less than 6-7 wins next season...we'll be getting a QB who is no better than our options this season. Im very confident in the fact that we are taking a QB with our #1 pick if we are letting go of Schaub. Fitz is not going to be a stop gap...he's going to be a back up to help mentor and guide. Fitz might get some play time, but for the most part, he's going to be holding a clipboard in his hand.
